


I didn't sign up for that shit

by 3rr0r_Author_not_found



Series: Can i go home? [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Dreamtale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Errortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Lamiatale (Undertale), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Sanses | Nightmare's Gang (Undertale), Badass Dreamtale Sans | Dream (Undertale), Big Brother Lust, Dimension Travel, Errortale Sans (Undertale), Especially in the undertale fandom, Fluff and Angst, Forced God Of Destruction Errortale Sans (Undertale), Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Killer Sans (Undertale) - Freeform, Lamia Fresh, Lust becomes their big brother, Lust is kidnapped by the gang, M/M, Monster Dust (Undertale), MutationVerse, Nightmare and Fresh adopt the gang, Nightmares Gang turns into children, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Fresh, Passive Nightmaretale Sans (Undertale), Platonic Soulmates, Poor Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Poor Errortale Sans (Undertale), Protective Dream, Protective Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Slow To Update, Soul Bond, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change, Team as Family, Time Travel, Uncorrupted Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Underfresh Sans (Undertale), Underlust Sans (Undertale), parent nightmare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3rr0r_Author_not_found/pseuds/3rr0r_Author_not_found
Summary: If someone had told the Bad Sanses a week ago that they would not only have an unwanted vacation but would also have turned into children, they would have dusted them off without hesitation. But now? They just wonder who they pissed off to endure this fate.Or:Nightmares gang gets the right body for their behavior and is delighted with a terrible babysitter.
Relationships: Error & Nightmare's Gang, Fresh/Nightmare, Nightmare & Dream
Series: Can i go home? [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179848
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	I didn't sign up for that shit

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Turn Back Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23102170) by [qweezy0w0](https://archiveofourown.org/users/qweezy0w0/pseuds/qweezy0w0). 
  * Inspired by [*OLD VERSION* Healing What Has Been Broken](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11173776) by [Harrish6](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harrish6/pseuds/Harrish6). 
  * Inspired by [Children of darkness (Soul of Void)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29100057) by [AlphaShiva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaShiva/pseuds/AlphaShiva). 
  * Inspired by [A Multiverse of Ideas: Drabbles, Short Stories, and Future Fics](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16616198) by [SomniumOfLight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomniumOfLight/pseuds/SomniumOfLight). 



> Okay so... There will be Angst (or at least the attempt at it) in this fanfiction and I confess in shame I enjoy watching them all suffer too much.

Balance. Omnipresent and yet overlooked by so many. Even those in charge of maintaining balance in the multiverse didn't seem to notice. Nightmare could only scoff at it. His brother and his oh-so-great friends may claim to protect the Multiverse, but they are just driving it to an end. Ink created too many AUs and, far more often, copies than Error could manage to destroy. Dream, his own brother, tried to drive the negativity out of every AU and sprayed his disgusting positivity in return. But neither Ink nor Dream had noticed how much they harm the multiverse instead.

Destruction could not offset creation.

Positivity masked negativity.

And life ... she still seemed to be gone. At least Death was doing his job the way he should.

Nightmare and Error often sat together for hours and thought of methods of at least postponing the end. They didn't care about the multiverse, but neither wanted to give up the few monsters they owned without a fight. So they fought. There was a convulsive attempt to rebalance the scales, but it seemed pointless. For every AU destroyed, two new ones appeared. Nightmare won the negativity of one au’s only to lose another shortly afterwards. It was frustrating. More than once the thought came up to just stop and watch everything fall apart.

But they couldn't. Whenever they were close to giving up, there was a new reason to keep going. It was just mundane things like Killer working on a new wooden figure. Horror who wanted to grow a new plant in their garden. Cross, who lived his new love for portraits and put hours of time and effort into his paintings. Or Dust, who lived out his passion for baking. Neither Error nor Nightmare wanted to lose these precious things.

And that brought Nightmare to his current position.

He had gone alone to collect negativity in one of the many Underfell copies. After all, Fell universes had always been more susceptible to negativity, which made them suitable crops to strengthen Nightmare. However, these universes attract Dream faster than others, since the Guardian of Positivity knows the tendencies of Nightmare too well. So it was no surprise for Nightmare to find his brother there. There entry was always the same. Dream appealed in vain to a version of Nightmare that would never open his eyes again.

So they fought. Nightmare attacked, Dream dodged. Dream kept trying to bring the past back, Nightmare just got angrier. An eternal back and forth from which no one emerges as a winner. They had danced this dance for centuries, ever since Nightmare was forced to indulge in the black apples. So it was a surprise when Dream actually managed to get Nightmares HP down to a dangerous level.

"Give up brother! This is your last chance. Please I... I don't want to hurt you. I just… want you to be like you used to be…" Dream pleaded with his brother, desperately hoping it would get through to Night while he drew his bow again, the arrow ready to be fired. Nightmare saw Dream desperately trying to keep the tears from escaping from the corner of his eye socket. He can only wonder how he looks to his brother. He could feel Dream's arrows digging into his corruption and bones.

“You are such a naive idiot… Do you have any idea how much I hate you… I never give up.!!! You're a stupid, hypnotic piece of shit!" Nightmare saw something in Dream break at his words. But Nightmare felt nothing but joy. Seeing his brother suffer made it worth the pain. If only it could relieve a bit of his pain, thanks to Dream all these years ago, he would take any arrow for it.

"In that case... I'm terribly sorry, brother..." The tears in Dream's eye sockets began to fall, and with joy Nightmare soaked up all the negative emotions his brother was so generous in spilling. But they also distract him from the fact that Dream had let go of the string of his bow. Too late, Nightmare noticed the approaching arrow. His eye widened as he realized something.

Dream tried to kill him.

While both Dream and Nightmare were considered immortal, they could still die. It was just much more than just lowering there HP. The HP can stand at one and yet no other monster than Dream could kill him. It was a simple reason. Only positivity can erase negativity. It is the same the other way around. Only negativity can destroy positivity. Still, Nightmare never expected that Dream would actually have the courage to kill him. It seems that at least he underestimated his brother in that.

Nightmare closed his eye in acceptance. Maybe he wasn't ready to die yet, didn't want to leave his gang and Error, but he was also aware that he had no chance to evade. His body protested at every move, just pushed his brother's arrows further into him. So he waited. Waited for the last arrow from Dream that would end his life.

But nothing came.

When Nightmare opened his eye again, he only saw white for a moment before his vision normalized. Cross stood in front of him, his sword glowing a soft red while Dream's arrow lay broken at his feet. Nightmare unconsciously relaxed a little. Cross was here. Cross could take on Dream.

“You have done enough, Dream. Now you'd better get out of here as fast as you can." Nightmare only heard Cross words through a rush. It seems Dream had done more damage than expected.

"B-But Cross! It can be dangerous... I... I don't want him to hurt you... P-Please... don't do that." Did Dream always sound so ... gentle? Concerned? In all of their conversations, Dream had pleaded, hoped, desperate, but never worried. It awakened feelings and memories that Nightmare had long kept under wraps.

“That's my choice, Dream. Don't try to stop me. Go now." Nightmare ignored Dream, who disappeared through one of his portals. His senses were completely fixed on Cross's imposing figure. He almost purred at the sharp aura of protection Cross projected.

"Oh... I'll take you to your castle.. The boys are worried about you, boss." His senses began to fade and Nightmare had to force himself to stay awake to hear Cross' words. "And me too…"

Nightmare passed out.

~*~

The first thing Nightmare noticed when he woke up was pain. His skull as well as his right eye socket ached like hell, both places where Dream's arrow had drilled into him. The next thing he registered was warmth. He was in his bed and had been covered with the blanket, but it was still too warm. However, the source was quickly found. Both Killer and Dust had clung to him. Nightmare gently rubbed over the skulls of his boys, not wanting to wake either of them. Dust and Killer had nightmares most nights and didn't get as much sleep as they should. It had gotten better since Nightmare had helped them with their nightmares, but they weren't at an acceptable level yet.

“You worried us, Night. Your HP were so low that we thought you'd turn to dust in our hands. ”Cross stood in the doorway and looked relieved to see Nightmare awake. Nightmare can imagine what kind of picture he must have given when Cross found him.

"It was nothing. I'm better and fine." It seems Nightmare's words were wrong. Because Cross sat down with more force than was necessary on a chair by the bed and looked at Nightmare disappointed. He had to force himself not to flinch at Cross's gaze. Cross's disappointed look always looked like someone had kicked a puppy. It was uncomfortable.

“It's not 'nothing', Nightmare! You were as good as dead when I found you. In then there was that Monster Candy couldn't cure you. Stars, you didn't even try to absorb the magic. Do you know what you did to us with it?" The more Cross talked, the more emotions rose in him. Anger, disappointment, worry, and although Nightmare couldn't feel it so well, there was relief and joy there too. It seemed he had caused his boys more trouble than he was worth.

“Healing magic has had no effect on me in a long time, Cross. Unless it is used for torture purposes." He gently ran one of his less painful tentacles over Cross's cheek, comforting him as best he could. “But you can help me heal later. Now ... where is Horror?"

"In the kitchen. He cooks to distract himself." Nightmare watched with satisfaction as the tension slipped further and further away from Cross. That was better. Now all that was missing from their little pile was Horror, and at least for a while the multiverse could be fine. And judging by the growling of his stomach, this one agreed.

“I'll get you something. Not that Killer or Dust would let you go." Nightmare watched with amusement as Cross left the room. He had no doubt that Horror would join him on the way back. Until his plate is empty, Horror won't let Nightmare go. Horror picked up on these traits after finding out how unreliable each of them were when it came to taking care of themselves. And look, Nightmare was right. Horror first came into Nightmare's bedroom, carrying a tablet full of food. There were probably portions for Dust and Killer too. That alone was enough reason for Nightmare to wake the two skeletons.

"Eat..." Horror looked at each of them intently as he handed out the food. So Nightmare wasn't the only one who hadn't eaten. After dinner, Nightmare was informed about the events of the past few days which ... surprisingly was little, at least for the Star Sanses. Dream hadn't shown up at all, and neither was Blueberry. Ink had been active, but was quite demotivated compared to other days. Nightmare really didn't like the fact that their sworn enemies were so quiet. Usually that meant that they were planning something that wasn't. Which wasn't surprising anymore. It seemed to become a habit that the Star Sanses cause trouble when one of Nightmare's guys wasn't at his best.

"So? What the hell was wrong with you boss!? Why didn't you heal when we tried?” Dust threw his questions into their conversation and turned the focus of the conversation back to Nightmare, which made him sigh. He could feel the eyes of his boys on him. He couldn't talk his way out of here.

“It doesn't work because my body doesn't work with healing magic. I need negativity to heal. It's just not possible any other way." There was an incredulous silence as the other processed Nightmares words.

"That's all? Heh, that's easy." Killer shrugged and grinned at Nightmare. “Really boss, we could have done something simple a long time ago. Why are you making everything complicated?" There was an undertone in Killer's reprimanding tone that Nightmare would almost call a preference.

“If it's that easy, go for it! I've got the right AU in my head." Before Dust could do more than jump off the bed, Nightmare had pulled him back into bed with his tentacle. Incidentally, Horror and Cross were also brought to bed. There wasn't much argument about the moorings. Ultimately, Dust and Cross ended up on Nightmare's left and Horror and Killer on his right. A tentacle was wrapped around each of them, holding them close to him.

“First you all sleep. I can see that you didn't have one."

"You know us boss." Killer's words were the last one heard from them. It wasn't long before everyone fell asleep under Nightmare's watch. And only when it was clear to Nightmare that none of them had a nightmare, he slip back into a dreamless sleep.

~*~

Pain, as if his soul was being torn apart, made Nightmare wake up jerkily. His magic flooded his castle, searching for an intruder and the rest of his gang. Neither an intruder nor his boys were found. Nightmare was alone. But it still didn't explain where the pain in his soul was coming from.

However, it wasn't long before Nightmare found the cause. While he was sleeping, the others must have gone to an AU and there created negativity for him. Because even though his HP was still too low for general well-being, it had definitely risen. The pain in his soul led to the fact that the boys most likely ran into trouble. Without a doubt, the Sans resident in the AU must have notified the Star Sanses, who were now stopping the boys.

A particularly sharp pain made Nightmare fall back onto the bed he was trying to get up from. It felt like he was being corroded by acid, his bones smashed and his soul slowly and meticulously pierced with needles at the same time. He couldn't count on his boys to do it alone. Ever since sharing their souls and establishing a soul bond with one another, Nightmare had a complete sense of the state of his boys, even when they were out of his reach. With Nightmare's magic flowing through them thanks to the bond, they couldn't die before Nightmare did, but that doesn't mean they couldn't feel pain. And no one hurt their boys without feeling the consequences.

"Time to remind my brother that my things are taboo for him and his friends."

Nightmare opened a portal and let his soul determine the direction. She would lead him to his other halves. And she took him to one of the Undertale copies. There he didn't even have to look for the fight, he had stepped out of the portal right next to it. And he didn't like the situation he found at all.

Cross was covered in Ink's paint and despite the pain, struggled against the Creator.

Dust and Horror fought Blueberry and had some shattered ribs thanks to the short skeleton.

Dream himself was engaged by Killer, who dodged the arrows well. Still, Nightmare could see his brother's arrows stabbed on Killer.

This fight had lasted long enough. Nightmares tentacles sneaked up on the Star Sanses, unnoticed by the fighters. At the appropriate moment, when the three were too fixated on their opponents, Nightmares tentacles shot out of their hiding place like snakes and pounced on their prey. They didn't know what hit them when the tentacles wrapped themselves tightly around their bodies and broke one or two bones in the process. Nightmare didn't care. That pain was nothing compared to what they did to his boys.

"Dream, Dream, Dream. Didn't I teach you not to touch my things?" Several eyes rested on Nightmare as he stepped onto the battlefield and stood in front of his boys. If they wanted to go to them now they had to pass him first.

“They don't belong to you, brother! Cross and the others just belong to themselves!" Ah, there was his brother's little crush for Cross. Too bad Nightmare didn't like to share.

"But they do." Nightmare pulled Killer's top down with a free tentacle so that the black moon on Killer's sternum was clearly visible. Shocked, Dream stared at the moon before slowly moving to Cross. He looked so hurt that Nightmare wanted to laugh at the pathetic expression on Dream's face. Seems like he'll have to do it another time.

"We go."

"But...!" Dust Protest was cut off when a large amount of red paint was thrown over him. Nightmare's gaze snapped to Ink who had managed to free himself from Nightmare tentacles. He had forgotten the inhuman strength of the Creator. But Ink seemed to take advantage of Nightmare's distraction for a few seconds to free Dream and Blueberry as well. So the fight started again, but this time with one crucial difference. Nightmare protected his boys from harm by taking the attack. So they had an opening to attack.

Until it was too much.

Dream shot an arrow straight at Killer's soul, which was trembling with joy from the excitement of the fight. Killer didn't notice, much more fixated on attacking Blueberry, he wouldn't be able to dodge. So Nightmare followed the urge of his soul and put himself in the line of fire instead.

Dream's arrow dug into Nightmare's soul.

Everyone froze in their movement and started Nightmare as he staggered a few steps back before he slowly sank to the ground. With a feeling of devouring numbness, Nightmare watched as his HP settled at 0. He couldn't feel his boys' hands on him, their words were just a rush in his ears. And despite the all-encompassing grief of which the tears were evidence of which streamed down her cheeks, Nightmare could only feel gratitude, love, and happiness from them. It fills him with peace. When his eye slowly closed, Nightmare drew his boys to him with the last of his strength, wrapping his arms and tentacles around them.

"I love you."

After that everything went black and Nightmare was gone, leaving nothing but a puddle of liquid corruption which shortly mixed with dust afterwards as it seeped into the earth.

~*~

Dream stared wordlessly at the black puddle that was his brother. He couldn't believe that his brother should be dead. He didn't want to believe it. But the screams of his soul, drowned out by the plaintive cries of Cross, Killer, Dust and Horror souls, proved otherwise. You can't fake that. And yet, Dream hoped so much that Nightmare would get out of the puddle again and start mocking Dream for thinking he was so easy to kill. But nothing moved.

Nightmare ... was dead.

"No.... No. No. No! Come on boss don't do this to us…. Please... get up..." Dream looked up when he heard Dust's desperate pleading. The dust-covered skeleton drove desperately through the black slimy mass, as if it would take shape again. But the others weren't looking any better either. Horror pulled at his empty socket with a force that Dream was sure it must cause hellish pain. But none of the others stopped him. Killer was frozen in position, one hand stretched out towards the puddle. His soul shrank and trembled to match the lament of the other souls. And Cross ... Cross just knelt there, his eye sockets empty. His bones rattled loudly. Each of them was caught in their grief and Dream could not do anything about it. Not when he was the cause.

When Nightmare arrived on the battlefield, Dream had thought nothing of it. It wasn't uncommon for Nightmare to appear later in fights. There were also no wounds from their last meeting, which led Dream to believe that Nightmare was fine. In retrospect, he could beat himself for it. Nightmare used to have a habit of covering up his wounds. And it was the same with the corruption that kept flowing over his bones. It hid Nightmares' wounds.

It pained Dream that Nightmare was still reverting to old habits ... had the situation been different, Dream would surely have loved it. After all, that would mean that Nighty, his beloved brother, was still somewhere beneath the slimy mass that had clung to him for centuries. But now ... Dream could only call the habit bad. Hiding injuries was just one of them. The fact that his gang members had Nightmare's symbol, the moon, imprinted on their bones only indicated that Nightmare continued to mark all that was his. And finally ... In the fight, Nightmare had taken the attacks that would have hit one of his own instead. It reminded Dream so much of her childhood when his brother did the same for him back then.

A startled gasp from Blueberry tore the Guardian of Positivity from his thoughts. So following his friend's gaze, Dream saw what had shocked Blueberry.

Horror had started to dust off.

Everyone stared at horror in surprise and shock, while the affected skeleton just looked in amazement at his hands as they turned to dust. Horror's friends reached out for him in disbelief, only to see him turn to dust under their hands with a smile on his face. When Cross next turned to dust, an expression of peace on his face, Killer laughed and sounded happy for some reason.

"That's really selfish of you, boss"

While Dream, along with Blueberry and Ink, looked at Killer in amazement when he slowly turned to dust, carrying the grin until the end, Dust groaned and looked annoyed but also amused.

“Honestly boss. I didn't sign up for that shit when I accepted your offer."

Dream was confused by the whole situation. At first the souls of Cross, Horror, Dust and Killer screamed with grief, but as soon as everyone starts to turn to dust, they stop their dirge. Instead, they had started singing loudly and with joy. The emotions were so strong that they reverberated in Dream even after the four were long gone. It just doesn't make sense to Dream.

“Come on, Dream. Let's go back We have to tell the others what happened here." Understanding, Dream nodded at the creator's words and let Blueberry help him on his feet. Ink was right. He couldn't just sit and stare at the remains of Nightmare and his gang all the time. There were others out there who needed his help.

But before any of the Star Sanses could take any step in the direction of leaving the AU, the AU began to shake. Buildings in the area began to shake, and some collapsed from the tremors. However, instead of simply falling over like the buildings, the trees died bit by bit, it spreads to the grass under Dream's feet.

“What happens to the AU ?!” Almost as if it had been waiting for Blueberry's question, a tree rose from the ground, exactly where the remains of his brother and his gang lay before. The tree shot up, towering over every other tree in this AU. In fact, if Dream had to guess, he would say the tree was almost as big as the Tree of Emotions that Dream and Nightmare guarded so long ago.

When the tree finally stopped growing, the tremor of the AU stopped too. Only now could Dream look at the tree in peace. The bark was a dark gray, almost black. Carved into the bark were long circles, each glowing either cyan or purple. And there, between the gray leaves of the tree, apples peeked out.

One of the apples was a soft red, although there were darker spots that looked almost like blood. There was also a corner of the apple that was colored black and made this part look broken.

Another was a dark blue with black stripes running across its shape.

There was an apple there that turned from blue to red. The apple was also covered with gray and bloody red spots.

Then there was one in a soft purple. This apple also had a large red-purple cross on its skin.

Last but not least, there was another apple in red, blue and yellow, with the individual color fields separated from a lighter blue. This lighter blue looked almost like threads wrapped around the apple.

Dream froze in his movement and stared at the tree in shock when he realized a decisive factor. The tree in front of him was Nightmare. It did not become a puddle of corruption, it was just an intermediate form. In the end, Dream should have expected it. Nightmare has had problems with rules in the past. So why should he stick to any when he dies? That fact drew a laugh from Dream and made Ink and Blueberry look at him with concern.

"Nightmare really has the last laugh, even in death."

“So is Nightmare responsible for the chaos? But how?! We saw him die, Dream!" Dream merely nodded at Blueberry's words and gently put a hand on the bark. In doing so, he expected to be overwhelmed by a wave of negativity but instead just felt the negativity roll around a patch of positivity and aggressively protect it. Typical Nightmare, always locking his belongings away from others.

"Yes Blue. All of that was Nightmare. And Nightmare wouldn't be Nightmare if he hadn't had a dramatic exit. So he withdrew his life from this AU and united himself and his group in this tree. We probably just didn't get caught because we're not part of the AU." At that, Blueberry and Ink took a closer look at the tree and appeared to see the evidence of Dream's words for themselves.

"Can't we just cut it down?" Ink asked curiously and Dream stiffened at the words.

"I wouldn't do it." Ink looked confused at this and Dream explained quickly. “If Nightmares tree is just a bit like the one in our AU, it will probably create guardians to protect the tree as soon as we try to cut it down. And these guards will in no way be as kind as me or Nightmare when we were younger." 

After that Ink seemed to have lost interest in the tree prematurely and disappeared into one of his puddles of paint with a shrug, making Dream sigh in relief. Taking Blue's hand, the other two also disappeared through a portal.

Neither of the three had noticed the small tremor that echoed across the multiverse as Nightmare's tree appeared.

~*~

It had been a few days since Nightmare's death, and the Multiverse was celebrating the death of one of their greatest fears. Few monsters withdrew from the party. It was mostly the ones who were closely related to Nightmare and his gang. Such monsters were Sugar, Horror's brother, Color and Dream.

Dream had withdrawn to the undertale copy that held Nightmare's tree. A lot had happened there in a few days. The moon hung continuously in the sky, which had turned black. The grass around the tree no longer looked dead and gray, but alive and of a red-brown color. Through the fog that had spread there, the lines in the tree and the apples seemed to practically glow. And although the AU was just so saturated with negativity, Dream felt at home for a long time.

It had been about ten minutes since Dream had sat under the tree when he felt a small tremor. In the last few days there have been repeated small tremors through the multiverse. At the moment they are still small and gentle, but Dream feared the effects the waves would cause. But this quake right now? It was different. The tremor was followed by a wave of cold magic that hungrily clung to Dream, as if to devour him. And contrary to every instinct of Dream who yelled at him to get out of here, he followed this strange magic to its center. The closer he got to the center, the less hunger and cold actually became. Instead, it was overlaid with a magic that sparkled like a thousand colors and moved smoothly around Dream. It even nudged him curiously before withdrawing.

Surrounded by dead grass and trees, which may once have been a beautiful clearing, Dream saw three skeletons. He knew one of them - Reaper. But the other two didn't look familiar to Dream in any way. Had Ink created new AUs that the two could come from?

The first of the two appeared to be smaller than Blueberry, but that was actually the only similarity they shared. The bones of the skeleton looked gray and if he didn't see the dark gray eyes, Dream almost thought they had empty eye sockets, like Killer had them. In addition, there was a hole under the right eye socket that looked very similar to the Save-Star. In addition, a crack adorned the skull of the skeleton, which stretched from the left side of the skull to the eye socket. You could faintly see that some parts of the skull were missing along the crack. The skeleton's clothing was similar to Red's, albeit with different colors. A dark gray sweater, gray baseball shorts with blue stripes, a black jacket with the Save-Star depicted in gold on the arms, and finally dark gray sneakers with light gray socks. All in all, their shape seemed to swallow the colors around it, but that could just be the fog that almost seemed to cling to the skeleton.

The other skeleton was more surprising. In size, it reached roughly G's eye socket. The bones of the skeleton looked almost black, much like Errors, except that white spots seemed to adorn the bones, as could be seen on their skull, where a large white spot covered his left cheek and part of the left eye socket. In fact, Dream could see that the skeleton's phalanges were blue and purple. Their eyesight seemed to be the same color - purple surrounded by a blue circle. Even the clothes were color-coordinated. The hoodie was a dark blue that turned purple towards the bottom. Dream could also see something embroidered in gold on the sleeves - a scale. The pants looked like simple, faded jeans. And the skeleton's feet were covered in black flip flops. The strangest thing about this skeleton, however, was the long tail, which seemed half as long as the skeleton was tall. In addition, there were short horns on the head of the skeleton, the right one adorned with gold jewelry. In fact, there was still a white spot behind the right horn.

The two skeletons seemed to be talking to Reaper, even if Dream really didn't understand anything of their conversation. Just one word Dream caught over and over again - soul. And stars, how much that made Dreams' own soul tremble with fear. _No one_ has a conversation with Reaper about souls for no good reason. And his feeling came true when Reaper pulled five souls out of his cloak. Five souls, one of which immediately caught Dream's eye.

Red and shaped like a target - Killer's soul.

Dream wanted to storm the clearing and stop this venture. Even if Killer wasn't the nicest monster, it still didn't deserve whatever those skeletons had planned with his soul! But before he could even take a step in there direction, this cold, hungry magic pressed itself with a lot of weight on Dream, preventing him from taking a step. So he had to watch how the skeleton with the stained bone took every single soul, piece by piece, into their mouth and swallowed it. Dream felt a tiny spark of satisfaction as the skeleton grimaced afterwards. Their companion, the short skeleton, shook their head and seemed to blame the other, which apparently sparked a discussion between the two. One of the two, Dream did not know who, opened a portal into an all-engulfing blackness and the two skeletons went in, continuing their discussion, without hesitation. When the portal closed behind them, Reaper was long gone.

But Dream was not given rest. Just minutes after the three skeletons disappeared, a tremendous tremor shook the multiverse. Dream quickly disappeared through one of his portals. He had to let Ink know.

However, at no time did Dream wonder how Killer's soul had still existed in this realm days after he died.

**Author's Note:**

> So ... I hope the chapter went down well with you. If there are suggestions for improvement, please in the comments! And sorry for any misspellings, English is not my main language. 
> 
> Also, here is a drawing of Nightmares Tree:  
> https://tmblr.co/ZmFx4XZjkZ5-ie00


End file.
